Once upon a time there lived a man who lost the most precious thing he had - a diamond of immeasurable value. He was very attached to him and decided to find him by any means available in this life. Questioning everyone he could, he listened to the advice of ventriloquists and false prophets, astrologers and palmists, holy fools and wizards. After a long time, still not losing hope, he appeared with a certain Sufi, who, according to rumors, could work miracles.
When he told about his problem, the wise man said:
“Of course I will help you, but in exchange you must do something for me.”
- I will do anything! - said the excited seeker.
- Great. Go find and bring here a man who has never lost anything.
The man began searching. He asked everyone in his village, then in the nearby city, then throughout the country; he then traveled from country to country, looking for a man who had nothing to lose. Of course, everyone he asked not only said that they had lost their things, but, remembering the bitterness of the loss, told him what they had lost and how much it upset them.
Finally, he felt that he had listened to so many stories, so much pain and grief that his loss began to seem insignificant. However, it was all the more interesting to find a person who had not lost anything in his life.
After years of searching, he heard about such a man who lived in an inaccessible cave in the mountains. Soon he managed to reach him.
-Have you really never lost anything?
“Never,” said the hermit.
- How could this happen?
“I just never had anything.”
“Then you must come with me, because such and such a Sufi master told me to bring you to him.”
The hermit sighed and said:
- What's your problem?
- Return the diamond.
- And you managed to do it?
- No, I met so many people on my way who constantly lost and suffered that I don’t want him anymore.
- What do you want?
- Take you to a Sufi.
- For what?
The man thought and could not answer why he should follow the Sufi’s instructions now that his problem was solved.
“Besides, why would the Sufi think that I would agree to come to him?”
“Exactly,” said the seeker, “this proves that the Sufi did not understand what he was talking about.”
“Do you still want to send me to your Sufi?”
- I don’t want to at all.
“So wasn’t the Sufi wise in organizing this series of events for you?”
“No,” said the man. “I was wise because I began searching for the diamond.”
And, of course, this man never found wisdom: on the other hand, he did not seek it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru